EPIC MONGOLIA - EAGLE HUNTERS AND GOBI DESERT

As my September 2024 Mongoplia photo tour went so well, I'll be repeating it in July/August 2025!

Mongolia is a stunning place to experience a thousand year-old culture, photograph epic landscapes and enjoy the hospitality of local people.

This unforgettable trip will take you first to the heart of Southern Mongolia and the famous Gobi Desert, a land of canyons, desert dunes, beautiful mountains and ancient culture. We capture camel herders crossing the sands, have private portrait shoots with camel herders and shoot the amazing landscape at dawn, dusk and under the night sky. The trip has been timed so there is no moon during our time in the Gobi Desert.

In Western Mongolia, we attend our own private Eagle Hunter festival, and photograph Eagle Hunters in stunning mountain locations. The photo opportunities are superb, unlike anything you will have experienced before.

This trip will again be jointly-led by myself and two of Mongolia’s top photographers, Erdenbulgan Battsengel and Bayar Balgantseren. Both have led countless Mongolia photo tours in the past, so they know the locations very well and have also worked with the local people we will be photographing. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Mongolia is a vast country and distances between some locations are great. The internal flight network is limited, so some long drives are necessary, often on unpaved (gravel/dirt) roads. We do travel in comfortable, air-conditioned 4x4s though, maximum 3 passengers per vehicle, and make frequent stops. Driving is also a good way to see the Mongolian countryside. In the South of Mongolia, hotels are few and far between so we stay in wooden cabins in tourist camps. They are warm and comfortable with hot showers and electricity.

 

Day 1 – 25th July 2025 Arrive in Ulaanbaatar after an overnight flight. Advice on flights will be given well in advance. In 2024, the UK-based participants flew via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines. The flight to Istanbul is approx 4 hours and the flight to Ulaanbaatar approx 7 hours. On arrival, we will be met by our drivers and transferred to the Ibis Hotel on the outskirts of the city. We'll rest-up after a long journey, then meet in the evening to discuss the trip and have dinner. 

 

Day 2 – 26th July 2025 Ulaanbaatar - Tsagaan Suvarga (365 km)

After breakfast, we drive to the south of Mongolia through the endless steppe for about 5 hours to Tsagaan Suvarga - the Grand Canyon of Mongolia. Millions of years ago, the canyon was on the seabed with a sedimentary structure. The formation is represented by different colors that characterize a certain age of the sediment. We'll photograph the canyon at sunset and sunrise among the unearthly landscape and stay overnight at a nearby tourist camp. If there'sa an internal flight available to Dalangazad, then we may fly instead of driving. This can only be confirmed around March 2025.

 

Day 3 – 27th July 2025 After breakfast we will head to Gobi-Dalanzadgad - Khongor sand Dunes by 4x4. We will be driving around 4.5 hours. Time permitting, we will have our first photo session in the Khongor sand dunes at sunset and also do some night photography if the sky is clear. Overnight in tourist camp in wooden cabins. The camp has electricity and en-suite facilites. In September, Gobi average temperature is 8-10C.

 

Day 4 – 28th July 2025 We start the day early with a sunrise shoot at Khongor sand dunes, which stretch for over 170km across the Gobi Desert. Camels and camel herders will be waiting for us for a portrait session in the dunes and we’ll capture the first rays of light in the Gobi Desert. A sunset and night photo shoot is also planned today. We've chosen dates in the Gobi with no moon, so if we have a clear sky we can enjoy some night photography, capturing the Milky Way. Stay overnight at the same tourist camp in the Khongor Dunes.

 

Day 5 – 29th July 2025 Another early start for a sunrise shoot in the Khongor sand dunes. After breakfast, we check out and travel to Bayanzag (Flaming cliffs). We will arrive in the afternoon. The area is most famous for yielding the first discovery of dinosaur eggs. Other finds in the area include specimens of Velociraptor and eutherian mammals. We'll photograph sunset from panoramic locations with overview of the flaming cliffs. At sunset they turn a deep red color. Stay overnight in tourist camp which has en-suite facilities.

 

Day 6 – 30th July 2025 Today we rise early for breakfast, check out and travel back to Ulaanbaatar city. It's a long drive - 8-10 hours - but we make several stops along the way, and driving is a great way to get a feel for just how vast Mongolia is! We'll arrive in the evening and stay in the Ibis Hotel again for one night.

 

Day 7 – 31st July 2025 An early start today to catch an internal flight to Ulgii city from Ulaanbaatar. After checking in at our hotel in Ulgii (where we stay for 4 nights) we'll drive to a local Kazakh family for a portrait shoot with a champion eagle hunter in his ger. We also have a private photo shoot with a total of 3-5 eagle hunters in the foothills of the Altai mountains through late afternoon until sunset. The background will be holy Tsambagarav (4208m) mountain. The stunning 360° location offers rocky mountains on one side and snowy capped mountains on the other. It's an amazing spot, and the photo opportunities are unforgettable

 

Day 8 – 1st August 2025 We skip sunrise today, allowing ourselves a rest. It’s a very special day for us – a Private Eagle Festival, only for us, Kazakhs on horseback, dressed in their traditional furs and scarlet hats, with Golden Eagles hovering on their arms. The Festival is arranged by locals that are committed to preserving traditional Kazakh heritage. Enjoy the rare opportunity to view Golden Eagles close up and allow one to perch upon your arm.  We will have 10-15 eagle hunters with many opportunities to shoot at diverse locations: mountain ridges, river bends and grass marshlands with water and reflections.

All of the eagle hunters will be ready for portrait sessions. You’ll feel like you’re in movie set today and bring back home lots of great images, with no crowds getting in the way (a common problem if you attend a public eagle festival). After this stunning day we return back to Olgii to our hotel  (1-1.5 h drive).

 

Day 9 – 2nd August 2025 We have a relaxing morning, then after lunch in the town of Olgii we drive 1 hour on a paved road to beautiful blue lake Tolbo with a panoramic rocky viewpoint. There will be some great opportunities to shoot the stunning mountainous landscape and we will have 3 eagle hunters posing for portraits until sunset perched high on rocky crags. 

 

Day 10 – 3rd August 2025 After breakfast, we will fly from Olgii airport back to Ulaanbaatar city. Flight is included in the trip cost and the flight time is approx  3 hours to fly. En-route to the Ibis Hotel, we'll stop at the famous Gobi Cashmere store then have the rest of the afternoon to relax or explore UB city before a farewell dinner at the hotel or a local restaurant.

 

Day 11 – 4th August 2025 Our bus will take us to UB airport for the return flights home.

• At A Glance...

• Deposit / Price

  £500.00 / £6,200.00

  Sharing Discount - £300.00

• Date

  25th July - 04th August, 2025

• Included

  Local two-way air tickets: UB-Ulgii-UB, All accommodation, transport in Toyoto and Lexus 4x4s, drivers, photography guides and tour leader services, National park fees, meals and non-alcoholic beverages, all model fees and private Eagle Hunter mini festival

• Excluded

  International flights, insurance, alcoholic beverages, excess baggage fees on internal flights (weight limit is 15Kg, the excess charges are approx £1.30 per Kg!)

• Fitness Level

  Moderate

• Location

  Mongolia

• Max Group Size

  8